Simon Kostner (left) played a key role in Ritten's victory with a goal and an assist. © ECB/Pircher

Mike Halmo's coaching career starts with victory

The Ritten Buam won their first game in the Alps Hockey League Qualification Round on Wednesday evening. Mike Halmo's coaching career began with a victory in Vorarlberg.

February 04, 2026

From: cst

Because Ritten failed to qualify for the Master Round, their self-proclaimed season goal, coach Dave MacQueen had to leave. Mike Halmo succeeded him, who previously coached the U19 team and also served as MacQueen's assistant coach. On Wednesday, the former Bolzano tough guy finally made his coaching debut. It ended with a 3-2 victory in Dornbirn against EC Bregenzerwald.

For the boys, the away win in Vorarlberg marks a successful start to the Qualification Round. This is intended to propel Ritten into the playoffs, as the prospect of a season without the carnival season is unthinkable in Klobenstein. The victory against Bregenzerwald was a step in the right direction; after all, the Austrians started Qualification Round Group B with three bonus points (Ritten with two). Gröden (one point) and Jesenice (zero points) are also still in contention.

Colin Furlong shone with a catch rate of 95,8 percent.

Ritten led 1-0 after the first period on Wednesday thanks to a goal from Simon Kostner (11th minute). All the remaining goals came in the second period, with the decisive goal coming from Brandon Alderson, who scored on the power play after a pass from Diego Cuglietta (32nd minute). Despite outshooting the home team 48-36, they were unable to turn the game around.

AlpsHL: Wednesday's result

Qualification Round
EC Bregenzerwald – Rittner Buam 2:3
0:1 Kostner (10.03), 1:1 Haiböck (23.13), 1:2 Fink (28.36), 1:3 Alderson (31.21), 2:3 Bergström (38.10)
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